Happy Eat-the-Fourth-of-July!

In case you were concerned, I did make it home safe and sound on Monday evening. The bike ride was quite pleasant—short of a few extra-long waits on some traffic lights—and incredibly downhill as I had suspected. I’m keeping an eye on the weather forecast to see when the next ride-to-work bonanza can happen again.

I didn’t have anything to report on Tuesday because the only real training (other than some morning yoga, par usual) I did was for a great eating contest. And chances are Joey Chestnut would beat me anyway. Unless, of course, it was cupcake eating.

Life as I’ve known it pretty much resumed on Wednesday, I woke up early and did a couple hours of yoga, meditation and apartment cleaning. And by mid-afternoon, I was feeling pretty healthy on the sciatica front (about bleepin’ time!). So, I headed out for a run. A real run.

But trying to be smart, I started with a brisk walk again for 2.5 miles at 14-15:30/mile pace around my neighborhood. I was keeping my strides long, arms swinging and my left foot firmly planting with each step. The difference from Sunday’s outing was that I didn’t feel any pressure during the walk. And that was nice!

My goal was to cover four miles, and after walking the first two-and-a-half, the next one-and-a-half would be cake. They were. So I kept running.

It was only around the last half mile that I started feeling a little pressure in my lower back and thought it might be a good idea to slow down, cool down and head home. But that was only after I ran 4.05 miles, for a total of 6.55 miles (2.5 miles walking + 4.05 miles running).

The saddest part was plugging in my iPod and seeing that I had fallen to a distant fourth in one of my challenges. I’m 150 miles behind the leader and 50 behind the second-place runner whom I had totally beat three weeks ago. Such is the way of the injury.

But as Landon told me not long ago: the miles I sacrifice now during recovery will only be a fraction of the miles I would lose in the long run if I didn’t let myself heal.

Needless to say (which is, in itself, a funny thing to say), I didn’t run in the July 4 race in North Canton. And I’m still up in the air about Saturday’s 10K in Kent. Only Thursday and Friday will tell.

Saturday: The Day of Rest

Saturdays have typically been a big running day for me (I like to wake Neil up way too early and head out to the rec. center by 8:30 a.m.), but I really enjoyed the training rest today. I did do some work with weights, but I spent the rest of the day having fun.

Among other things, we went to the West Side Market, where I couldn't pass by a couple of Russian tea biscuits that just couldn't stop staring at me. So, I bought them, wrapped them up really well, and stuck them in the freezer for later this month. I had thought about creating some headgear with a stick, on the end of which I would hang the biscuits, but that might be a little too weird. You think?

It's important to rest, so I'm going to get some restful sleep tonight. I'm synching up my iPod right now with my latest music updates, and hope to get kicking with my Nike+iPod stuff tomorrow (finally!).

January Countdown Begins...

Listen to the soundtrack to Jan. 3 run:
Haughty Melodic by Mike Doughty

Today was Running Wednesday. And while the rec. center was still packed with resolutionists, the track was accessible. I would like to start running outside soon, but we're taking this one step at a time. So, I ran 2 miles and walked 1 mile.

By last August, I had built up to my all-time single-distance running record: seven miles. I was averaging around 10-12 miles each week and working on increasing my speed. But then I went on vacation. Boston was beautiful, but I lost my way (a.k.a. I got lazy) and had to start all over again. It's sad, really. Very, very sad.

The iPod chip should arrive on Friday. I'm psyched. These two miles, of course, count toward the month's 30. Nike+ just doesn't know that yet.

28 miles to go...